A recruitment drive has been launched in Bradford to find the industrial gas engineers of the future.

Many of the district's gas engineers are approaching retirement age prompting fears of shortages of skilled people in the future unless new blood is injected into the industry.

Industry leaders estimate 15 per cent of the district's gas engineer's will be retiring in the next five years.

And with low recruitment in recent years, the search is on to find new apprentices for the trade. United Utilities, the sub-contractors who run Yorkshire's 36,000 km long network of gas mains, is spearheading the drive.

Apprentices will be based at depots in Bradford and Heckmondwike.

A United Utilities spokesman said: "We do have several ageing engineers who are approaching retirement age. We have not recruited for some time, meaning our numbers will start to fall in the near future. We are launching the apprenticeship scheme to help bring in new blood to the profession and address this skill shortage, which is being felt nationwide."

United Utilities' gas engineers carry out emergency repair and maintenance work, as well as specialist electrical and instrumentation engineering.

United Utilities has engineers on 24-hour call in the event of a emergency such as a gas leak or explosion, as well as for day-to-day maintenance of the systems. The firm is also involved in a 30-year programme to replace mains links throughout the whole of Yorkshire.

Alix Mann, 18, one of handful of recent recruits to the apprenticeship programme, said: "It has been really interesting so far. I would recommend the job to everyone. I get to travel the region and learn a lot."

While the gas industry is facing a shortage locally in large scale industrial gas engineers, some domestic gas engineers are struggling to find work because there are too many of them. Bradford College's gas maintenance courses are more popular with students than ever, with a large proportion going on to apprenticeships.

However the college says some are struggling to find work after finishing their courses, due to a lack of employers willing to take them on.

Peter Thompson, head of construction at Bradford College, said: "A few youngsters have trouble finding employers to take them on. Many firms locally are just one or two man operations who do not need extra staff. We have well qualified and capable workers who cannot find work. We are working with local plumbing businesses and fitters to make sure more are getting jobs."

Anyone interested in a gas engineers apprenticeship should visit www.unitedutilities.com or call (01925) 534479.